Khalid Bin Shaheen, the Senior
Executive Vice President & Group Chief, Global Home Remittances Management
Group, National Bank of Pakistan blessed with a pleasant personality is
approaching professionally to streamline overseas workers remittances through
National Bank.

Overseas Pakistani workers wrote
history by remitting the highest-ever amount of nearly $8.906 billion in the
fiscal year (2009-10) and $841.44 million only in June 2010.

The National Bank working in
collaboration with the State Bank of Pakistan and its guidelines for promoting
home remittances has major share of the total remittances mainly because of the
team spirit and of course dynamic personality of Khalid Bin Shaheen who
frequently visits the Middle East including Saudi Arabia to have a direct
interaction with the overseas Pakistanis. During meetings with Pakistanis abroad
Khalid is doing a great job to encourage and motivate Pakistani workers to use
banking channels especially the strong network of National Bank for remitting to
their homeland with a greater ease and ease. NBP, it may be noted, has an
effective branch network in that part of the world, said Khalid Shaheen.

He was of the view that home
remittances could assume a greater role in streamlining external flows provided
the overseas workers given more incentives and properly guided to use banking
channels for remittances.

When asked whether efforts of the
banking sector or sense of insecurity created by tightened security and
screening of bank accounts of overseas workers resulted in remarkable increase
in inflows through banking channels?

He agreed that the disturbed conditions
due to war on terror, money laundering campaign all over the world and the rupee
depreciation against dollar were the major cause of streamlining the inflows of
home remittances to Pakistan. However, the role of the banking sector cannot be
underestimated because the introduction of innovative financial products, swift
transfer of money and better customer services equally contributed to enhance
the remittances, he said.

Khalid said with a sense of achievement
that perception of the NBP is second to none which gives a sense of security to
the customers. It may be noted that NBP has outperformed all the banks in
Pakistan with the selection among the "TOP 1000 banks 2010î by the banker
Magazine of UK on the basis of soundness, profit and performance. NBP based on
Tier 1 Capital Strength was awarded as the top bank in Pakistan.

It is said that a good face is the
passport to success. Khalid also a television and film celebrity is widely known
from grass root level to the elite not only in Pakistan but abroad also. This
natural gift also helped elevating his professional career as a senior banker to
deliver impressively for the cause of the country and his bank in particular.

Khalid was of the opinion that overseas
Pakistani would assume a bigger role in the days to come with their
contraposition towards the economic recovery of Pakistan by remitting more and
more to their homland.

It is worth mentioning that overall
remittances received in FY10 showed an impressive increase of 14 percent when
compared with the previous highest amount of $7.811 billion received in FY09.
Similarly, the amount of $841.44 million received in June 2010 beat the previous
record of $806.12 million received in September 2009.

It may be pointed out that the State
Bank, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis had undertaken a
joint initiative called 'Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI)' with a view to
facilitating the flow of remittances through formal channels. In this regards a
number of steps have been taken by PRI which have started to materialise and
remittances through formal channels are showing considerable growth. It may also
be mentioned Pakistan has been reported as a top nation, which has shown the
highest growth in the world in remittances despite recent global financial
crisis.

It is interesting to note that the
target of remittances in the Annual Plan for FY10 was $7 billion while the State
Bank has projected in its Third Quarterly Report that the country would receive
$8.5 - $9 billion dollars.

The inflow of remittances in the July
2009 to June 2010 period from UAE, Saudi Arabia, USA, GCC countries (including
Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman), UK and EU countries amounted to $2,038.57
million, $1,917.66 million, $1,771.19 million, $1,237.87 million, $876.38
million and $252.22 million respectively, as compared to $1,688.59 million,
$1,559.56 million, $1,735.87 million, $1,202.65 million, $605.59 million, and
$247.66 million respectively in the July 2008 to June 2009 period. Remittances
received from Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan and other countries
during FY10 amounted to $810.98 million as against $771.03 million in FY09.